Moby Dick by Herman Melville
1851 / 378 pgs.  Classic Fiction

“Call me Ishmael,” the infamous beginning of Moby Dick.  The great American classic in literature.  Countless great quotes come from this single book.  Iconic characters that today play tropes in today’s entertainment.  Specifically, Ahab, the monomaniacal Captain of the whaling ship Pequod.  An individual is so focused on finding and killing the whale that he is willing to sacrifice everything, the ship, crew, and even his own life.  Today, many people who have an obsession for anything at the cost of all are Ahab’s trope. 

Many famous lines come from this classic novel, “Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.”.  While reading this line, my inner geek remembered Khan and his variance of the quote “He tasks me! He tasks me and I shall have him! I’ll chase him ’round the moons of Nibia and ’round the Antares Maelstrom and ’round Perdition’s flames before I give him up.”.  However, the keen eye knows he read this book because it can be seen on the Botany Bay book shelf.  Yes, Star Trek II, is a modern telling of Moby Dick.

To write all the quotes would be my entire review.  However, that is not why you are here, dear readers.  Moby Dick is a narration by Ishmael, a sailor that desires to experience the Whalers’ life.  In the beginning, Ishmael tells his story as a sailor and how the sea is always calling to him.  Throughout his narration, he gives the story of many of the characters on the ship.  The most infamous is Ahab, and how Moby Dick took his leg, and this is the seed for the fire that burns inside the Captain to hunt down the white whale obsessively. 

Like many classics of the time, Melville describes and brings the reader into the world of whaleship warts and all in long narration.  He describes in nauseating detail how a whale is dismembered, what parts are the most important, and those discarded after the grisly task is complete.  It even goes into minute details about how a whaleship is run and the crew’s make-up.   
Enjoy a good cup of coffee and an excellent book!

Lopaka

NOTE:  A little-known fact, Melville built the foundation for this book from the true story of Essex.  That story is even more dark and gruesome than Moby Dick.